Most Australian motorists fear becoming victims of road rage and almost all believe drivers are becoming more aggressive, a new survey has found.

Road rage fears increasing, says survey

Most Australian motorists fear becoming victims of road rage and almost all believe drivers are becoming more aggressive, a new survey has found.

The 15th annual AAMI Crash Index suggested poor behaviour on the nation's roads had reached a new low, with 60 per cent of drivers fearing a road rage incident.

It revealed 91 per cent believed motorists were becoming more aggressive, with 56 per cent admitting to using rude gestures in response to bad driving and 58 per cent admitting to swearing and yelling at other road users.

AAMI executive general manager Anthony Durakovic said the latest survey showed aggression had become part and parcel of the driving experience in Australia over the past 15 years.

"Not only are drivers still angry, they are prepared to take that anger from the cocoon of their car to a personally confrontational situation," Mr Durakovic said.

Compared with survey results in 1996, drivers were now five times more likely to follow or pursue another driver and four times more likely to tailgate another car.

Mr Durakovic said it was also unfortunate that most drivers believed aggression on the roads was acceptable.

More than 80 per cent said yelling, swearing and gesturing rudely were acceptable responses to road rage while 63 per cent said tailgating other drivers was justified.

"It is one thing to say passive retribution like yelling and swearing is acceptable, but that so many drivers say tailgating another is acceptable behaviour is a serious concern," Mr Durakovic said.

The AAMI survey found most motorists blamed road congestion for driver aggression.

It also revealed 80 per cent of all Australians had experienced a car crash with 48 per cent of drivers blaming inattention for the incident just 15 per cent citing speed, 10 per cent fatigue and eight per cent alcohol.

Speeding is also becoming the norm on the nation's roads, with just 16 per cent of motorists declaring they never exceeded the speed limit.

The AAMI Crash Index is based on a national survey of 2,500 licensed drivers.